Chapter The reoccupation of the late roman villae of the Iberian Peninsula and the record of the subaltern debris. The case of Fuente Álamo (Puente Genil, Córdoba)

Abstract

Recent studies on the peasantry in the ancient world and early Middle Ages on the Iberian Peninsula have experienced a revitalization due to new archaeological records and the application of landscape archaeology. Alternative historiographical perspectives that focus on concepts such as collective action, peasant agency, and small politics have led to a rethinking of peasant communities in rural areas. However, the historiography of the ancient peasantry on the Iberian Peninsula still struggles with historical explanations for the transition between antiquity and the Middle Ages. This paper proposes an alternative historiographic perspective that analyses the archaeological record of the final phases of occupation in Roman villae using concepts from peasant and subaltern studies. The focus of our approach is on understanding the everyday practices and agency of subaltern rural communities during Late Antiquity, rather than viewing the archaeological record solely from an architectural perspective. We illustrate our proposal using a case study: the late antique reoccupation of the Roman villae of Fuente Álamo (Puente Genil, Córdoba).